Method and system for processing supplementary product sales at a point-of-sale terminal

ABSTRACT

A POS terminal determines an upsell to offer in exchange for the change due to a customer in connection with a purchase. The point-of-sale terminal preferably maintains a database of at least one upsell price and a corresponding upsell to offer a customer in exchange for the change due to him. If the customer accepts the upsell, the cashier so indicates by pressing a selection button on the POS terminal. The required payment amount for the customer to pay is then set equal to the rounded price, rather than the purchase price. Thus, the customer receives the upsell in exchange for the coins due to him, and the coins need not be exchanged between the customer and the POS terminal.

The present application is a continuation application of patentapplication No. 08/920,116 entitled METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROCESSINGSUPPLEMENTARY PRODUCT SALES AT A POINT-OF-SALE TERMINAL filed Aug.26,1997 which is a continuation-in-part application of co-pending patentapplication Ser. No. 08/822,709, entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FORPERFORMING LOTTERY TICKET TRANSACTIONS UTILIZING POINT-OF-SALETERMINALS, filed on Mar. 21, 1997, incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to point-of-sale terminals, and, morespecifically, to methods and systems for processing product sales atpoint-of-sale terminals.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Most stores that are visited by customers have one or more point-of-sale(“POS”) terminals, such as cash registers. Store cashiers use POSterminals for calculating the total price of a purchase (one or moreproducts) and the amount of change due to a customer. Some POS terminalsfurthermore track purchases made and adjust a database of storeinventory accordingly.

The amount of change due is the difference between the purchase priceand the amount tendered by the customer. Customers typically tenderwhole number cash amounts in the form of bills of paper money, whilepurchase prices are most often non-whole number amounts. Accordingly,the amount of change due to a customer at a POS terminal typicallyincludes one or more coins, which the POS terminal or cashier dispensesto the customer.

Receiving and carrying change, especially coins, is an annoyance to manycustomers. Consequently, customers often are forced to tender non-wholenumber cash amounts in order to dispose of their unwanted coins and/orreduce the coins that would otherwise be given to them as change fortheir purchase. Coins and bills that are tendered by the customer arecollected by the cashier at the POS terminal.

Both dispensing coins to and collecting coins from a customer increasesthe amount of time a cashier spends processing a purchase, and thereforeincreases the amount of time that customers wait in line at a POSterminal. Accordingly, businesses must pay wages for time spent handlingcoins, and customers must experience delays as coins are exchangedbetween cashiers and customers.

In addition, it is possible that the cashier will make a mathematicalerror and dispense the wrong amount of change. Customers oftenanticipate such an error and count their change to assure that theyreceived the correct amount. Such customers typically count their changebefore leaving the POS terminal, further delaying other customers.

Businesses incur costs associated with counting, rolling, banking andotherwise handling coins. By some estimates, businesses expend hundredsof thousands of hours and hundreds of millions of dollars each year justto handle coins.

In summary, the exchange of change, especially coins, between customersand POS terminals is costly, time-consuming and undesirable.Unfortunately, conventional POS terminals merely calculate purchaseprices and amounts of change due, and cannot reduce the amount of changedue nor the exchange of coins.

Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a system and methodthat reduced the amount of change due, and therefore reduced the coinsexchanged between customers and cashiers at a POS terminal.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide methods and systemsfor offering selected products in exchange for the amount of change dueat POS terminals.

Generally, according to one aspect of the present invention, a POSterminal determines an upsell to exchange for the change due to acustomer in connection with his purchase. The point-of-sale terminalpreferably maintains a database of at least one upsell price and acorresponding upsell to offer a customer in exchange for the change dueto him. The upsells and upsell prices are established so that upsellsare profitably exchanged for the change due, thus providing the businesswith profit and the customer with value if the upsell is accepted.

When a customer brings a purchase to a POS terminal, the POS terminalgenerates the purchase price and sets a “required payment amount” to beequal to the purchase price. The required payment amount indicates theamount the customer is expected to pay. The POS terminal then generatesa rounded price, preferably by rounding up the purchase price to a wholenumber, and calculates therefrom a round-up amount equal to thedifference between the purchase price and the rounded price.Accordingly, the round-up amount indicates the coins due as change.

By comparing the calculated round-up amount with at least one of theupsell prices in the database, the POS terminal may determine whetherthe round-up amount corresponds to any of the upsell prices. If so, thePOS terminal identifies the upsell corresponding to this upsell price,and outputs signals indicative of the identified upsell. The outputsignals are preferably displayed text or graphics that explain to thecustomer and/or the cashier that the upsell may be purchased for thespecified amount of change due.

If the customer accepts the upsell, the cashier so indicates by pressinga selection button on the POS terminal. The required payment amount forthe customer to pay is then set equal to the rounded price, rather thanthe purchase price. Thus, the customer receives the upsell in exchangefor the coins due to him, and the coins need not be exchanged betweenthe customer and the POS terminal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1a is a schematic illustration of a POS terminal provided inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 1b is a schematic illustration of another embodiment of the POSterminal of FIG. 1a.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a method of the present inventionfor determining an upsell at a POS terminal.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary illustration of a storage area of the POSterminal of FIG. 1a.

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of an upsell database of the POSterminal of FIG. 1a.

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of a customer database of the POSterminal of FIG. 1a.

FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of an inventory price database of thePOS terminal of FIG. 1a.

FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of an offered price database of thePOS terminal of FIG. 1a.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating a method of the present inventionfor evaluating a counter-offer for an upsell at a POS terminal.

FIG. 9 is a schematic illustration of an identifier database of the POSterminal of FIG. 1a.

FIG. 10 is a schematic illustration of POS terminal connected to alottery data processing system.

FIG. 11 is a schematic illustration of another embodiment of thecustomer database of the POS terminal of FIG. 1a.

FIG. 12a is a flow chart illustrating a method of the present inventionfor storing customer preferences.

FIG. 12b is a flow chart illustrating a method of the present inventionfor storing customer preferences.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart illustrating a method of the present inventionfor applying previously-selected customer preferences.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart illustrating a method of the present inventionfor receiving a donated upsell.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart illustrating another method of the presentinvention for determining an upsell at a POS terminal.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As used herein, an “upsell” is a product (good or service) which isoffered along with a purchase and has a value approximately equal to apredetermined upsell price. Types of upsells which are described indetail herein include (i) an upgrade from a first product to a secondproduct different from the first product, (ii) an additional product,(iii) a voucher which is redeemable for a product or a discount thereon,and (iv) an entry in a sweepstakes, contest, lottery or other game.Various other types of upsells may be used without departing from thescope and spirit of the present invention.

By offering an upsell in exchange for the customer's change, an averageof approximately fifty cents additional revenue is collected per upsell,and the number of coins exchanged is reduced or eliminated. Thereduction or elimination of change dispensing and collecting greatlyreduces the time a customer spends at a POS terminal. In some cases, itmay even be possible to reduce the number of cashiers, if any, whooperate POS terminals. In addition, customers may recognize a greatervalue from the transaction while reducing or eliminating the need tocarry additional change after a purchase.

Further, the present invention allows businesses to more effectivelysell aged or perishable products by offering such products in exchangefor change due. Such products, such as aging magazines, audio tapes,compact discs, flowers and various perishables can be sold, therebygenerating additional revenue and reducing the costs of otherwisedisposing of the products. Providing the customer with aged productseffectively allows businesses to “pre-qualify” customers to receivediscounts on products.

Referring to FIG. 1a, a POS terminal 10 includes a POS processor 12connected to each of an input device 14, a printer 16 and a displaydevice 18. The POS processor 12 comprises at least one microprocessor20, such as an Intel 80386 microprocessor, which is connected to astorage device 22, such as a RAM, floppy disk, hard disk or combinationthereof.

The microprocessor 20 and the storage device 22 may each be (i) locatedentirely within a cash register, vending machine or similar enclosure;(ii) connected thereto by a remote communication link, such as a serialport cable, telephone line or radio frequency transceiver; or (iii) acombination thereof. For example, the POS processor 12 may comprise oneor more cash registers connected to a remote server computer formaintaining databases, or a vending machine connected to a localcomputer. Many types of conventional cash registers and other types ofPOS terminals may be used to implement the present invention in light ofthe present disclosure. Such terminals may only require softwareupgrades, which are typically performed without undue effort.

FIG. 1b illustrates another embodiment of the POS terminal 10 in which afirst device 32 communicates with a second device 34 via a remotecommunication link 36. The first device 32, which may be a cashregister, comprises the input device 14, the display device 18 and amicroprocessor 37 which performs some of the functions of themicroprocessor 20 of FIG. 1a. The second device 34 may be, for example,a processing system operated by an electronic marketing service orcredit card clearinghouse. The second device 34 comprises the storagedevice 22, the printer 16 and a microprocessor 38 which performs some ofthe functions of the microprocessor 20 of FIG. 1a.

Referring again to FIG. 1a, the input device 14 is preferably a keypadfor transmitting input signals, such as signals indicative of apurchase, to the microprocessor 20. The printer 16 is for registeringindicia on a portion of a roll of paper or other material, therebyprinting receipts, coupons and vouchers as commanded by themicroprocessor 20. The display device 18 is preferably a video monitorfor displaying at least alphanumeric characters to the customer and/orcashier. Many types of input devices, printers and display devices areknown to those skilled in the art, and thus need not be described indetail herein.

The storage device 22 stores a POS program 24 for controlling themicroprocessor 20 in accordance with the present invention, andparticularly in accordance with the processes described in detailhereinafter. The POS program 24 also includes necessary programelements, such as “device drivers” for interfacing with each of theinput device 14, printer 16 and display device 18. Appropriate devicedrivers and other necessary program elements are known to those skilledin the art, and need not be described in detail herein.

The storage device 22 also stores a required payment amount 26, which isan amount of money expected to be paid in return for products providedto the customer. From the required payment amount 26, the microprocessor20 may determine, for example, the change due and the total amount ofmoney that should have been collected by the POS terminal 10 at the endof a day. Those skilled in the art will note that the required paymentamount may comprise a single stored value or a plurality of values whicheach correspond to an amount of money expected to be paid for one ormore products.

The storage device 22 furthermore stores an inventory price database 28,which includes products and corresponding product prices. The inventoryprice database 28 enables the microprocessor 20 to calculate a totalpurchase price of one or more products, and in turn store the totalpurchase price in the required payment amount 26.

An upsell database 30 stored in the storage device 22 includes upsellsand corresponding upsell prices. An upsell price as used herein is aprice, set of prices or range of prices at which it is desirable to sellthe corresponding upsell. The upsell price is typically related to thecost of the upsell to the business. For example, if the cost to arestaurant is 20¢ for a small soda, then the upsell price of oneadditional small soda is a range greater than 20¢, such as the rangefrom 20¢ to 30¢. As another example, if the cost to the restaurant is22¢ for a large soda, then the cost of an upsell from a small soda to alarge soda for the restaurant is the incremental cost 22¢−20¢=2¢.Accordingly, the upsell price may possibly be a range having a lowerbound of 2¢.

In addition, it is desirable that the upsell price has an upper boundthat is less than a predetermined amount. For example, an upsell priceshould not exceed the price of a product offered as an upsell. Using theexample given above, the upsell price for an upgrade from a small sodato a large soda is a range with a lower bound of 2¢. An upper bound forthis upsell price should not exceed the cost of a large soda, forexample, 90¢. Otherwise, the customer would pay more than the price hewould have paid if he had included a large soda in his purchase.Proposing such a transaction to the customer, for example, 95¢ inexchange for a 90¢ large soda, is likely to be ineffective, as well asinsulting to the customer.

In general, the price of a product to a customer is different from thecost of the product to the business that offers the product. Therefore,the upsell prices in the upsell database 30 cannot be ascertained fromonly the product prices in the inventory price database 28, but must becalculated so as to yield a profit. For example, the inventory pricedatabase 28 may indicate that the price of a small soda is 55¢ and theprice of a large soda is 90¢. From these two prices alone, it isimpossible to determine that the cost to a restaurant is 20¢ for a smallsoda and 22¢ for a large soda, and thus that the cost of such an upsellfrom small to large soda is 2¢. Accordingly, it is impossible todetermine, from the inventory price database 28 alone, that it would beprofitable for the restaurant to profitably provide the upsell forrelatively small upsell prices, such as 5¢ or 10¢. Such a profit pointcan only be determined as a function of the costs.

The above-described difference between the prices of products tocustomers and the costs of the products to the business permits the POSterminal to determine upsells which (i) are profitably sold for thechange due to a customer, and also (ii) provide the customer with aproduct at a reduced price, in exchange for his change. Providing theproduct at a reduced price tends to increase customer satisfaction,generate additional revenue for the business and increase inventoryturnover. At the same time, the prices of products need not be reduced,and thus the profits from sales of these products (besides upsells)remain substantially or completely unaffected by offering upsells.

One type of upsell, which several kinds of businesses may offer, is anupgrade from a first product to a second product. Accordingly, acombination of (i) a purchase including a first product, and (ii) anupsell including an upgrade from a first product to a second productwould effectively result in the upgrade from the first product to thesecond product. A restaurant, for example, may offer an upsellcomprising an upgrade from a small soda to a large soda, or an upgradefrom a plain taco to a deluxe taco. An electronics store may offer anupsell that extends the effective term of a warranty.

Another type of upsell is an additional product to supplement thecustomer's purchase. For example, a restaurant may offer an upsellcomprising a promotional cup or a dessert; a video store may offer anupsell comprising a movie rental ticket, additional videotape orpromotional hat; a vending machine may offer an upsell that provides anextra candy bar; an appliance store may offer an upsell comprising awarranty; and a supermarket may offer an upsell comprising any one itemfrom a bin of perishable goods. Such a supermarket upsell isparticularly advantageous in generating revenue and liquidatingperishable products.

FIG. 2 illustrates a method 40 for determining an upsell of a purchaseat a POS terminal. The POS terminal of this embodiment, for example thePOS terminal 10, maintains a database of upsell prices and correspondingupsells (step 42). The POS terminal furthermore generates a purchaseprice of a purchase (step 44), and sets the required payment amount 26(FIG. 1a) to be equal to the purchase price (step 46). The step ofgenerating a purchase price may comprise, for example, (i) pressing keyson the input device 14 (FIG. 1a) which each correspond to a product,(ii) pressing numeric keys on the input device 14 which correspond tothe digits of the purchase price, or (iii) receiving digital signalsindicative of a currency value from a remote computing device.

The POS terminal then generates a “rounded” price (step 48), andcalculates a round-up amount (step 50) equal to the difference betweenthe purchase price and the rounded price. The rounded price may becalculated as, for example, the smallest whole number dollar amount thatis greater than the purchase price, the smallest multiple of five dollaramount that is greater than the purchase price, or the amount of moneytendered by the customer, which may or may not be a whole number amount.When the rounded price is a whole number, the customer can easily tenderbills and in turn receive, at his discretion, either (i) no change, or(ii) change which consists solely of bills, not coins. When the roundedprice is a multiple of large coins, such as nickels, dimes, quarters orhalf dollars, the customer can receive change that consists solely ofcoins the customer desires, such as quarters. Many other forms ofrounded prices may be calculated in accordance with the presentinvention.

The POS terminal then determines at least one upsell to be exchanged forthe round-up amount (change due). Preferably, to identify the upsell,the POS terminal compares the round-up amount with at least one of theupsell prices in the upsell database (step 52) to identify at least oneupsell having an upsell price including the round-up amount. If theround-up amount corresponds to an upsell price (step 54), the POSterminal identifies an upsell (step 56) which corresponds to that upsellprice, thereby identifying the upsell to exchange. The POS terminal thenoutputs signals indicative of the identified upsell (step 58), such asdisplaying text and/or graphics that explain to the customer and/or thecashier that the identified upsell may be purchased for the round-upamount.

The customer indicates to the cashier whether he accepts or rejects theoffered upsell. The cashier then presses a button on the POS terminal orotherwise generates a selection signal for indicating selection betweenthe identified upsell and change (step 60). If the selection signalindicates selection of the upsell, the required payment amount is set tobe equal to the rounded price (step 62). Thus, the customer tenderscash, a check or a credit card to satisfy the amount of money expectedto be paid, and receives the upsell in exchange for the round-up amount.

As discussed above, those skilled in the art will realize that therequired payment amount may comprise a single stored value or aplurality of values which each correspond to an amount of money expectedto be paid for one or more products. For example, the step 62 of settingthe required payment amount to be equal to the rounded price maycomprise (i) setting a stored unitary value to be equal to the roundedprice; or (ii) setting a first stored value to be equal to the purchaseprice and setting a second stored value to be equal to the round-upamount, similar to the case where two purchases are recorded.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 3, a customer at a fast-foodrestaurant orders a purchase that includes a hamburger and a small soda.A cashier records the purchase at a POS terminal, and the POS terminalin turn determines the product prices of each of the hamburger and thesmall soda from entries 70 and 72 in the inventory price database 28.The POS terminal generates therefrom the purchase price $1.62, and setsthe required payment amount 26 to be $1.62.

The POS terminal then generates a “rounded” price of $2.00 (using, inthis example, “2” as the smallest whole number which is greater than thepurchase price), and calculates a round-up amount 74 of $2.00−$1.62=38¢.Since the rounded price is a whole number, the customer may easilytender bills and receive either no change or change which consistssolely of bills, not coins.

The POS terminal compares the round-up amount 74 with at least one ofthe upsell prices in the upsell database 30. The round-up amount 74corresponds to a compared upsell price 76 (the range from 2¢ to 45¢),and the product sold (small soda) corresponds to the upsell condition78, so the POS terminal identifies an upsell 80 in the upsell database30 which corresponds to the upsell price 76. The POS terminal thendisplays text or graphics that explain to the customer and/or thecashier that the upsell 80 may be purchased for the specified amount ofchange due (the round-up amount 74).

The customer indicates to the cashier whether he accepts or rejects theoffered upsell. The cashier then presses a button on the POS terminal orotherwise generates a selection signal for indicating selection betweenthe identified upsell 80 and change. If the selection signal does notindicate selection of change, but instead selection of the upsell 80,the required payment amount 26 is set to be equal to the rounded price.Thus, the customer receives the upsell (an upgrade from a small soda toa large soda), and there are no coins due.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the POS terminaldetermines the upsell(s) by identifying at least one upsell in thedatabase that corresponds to the compared upsell price. For example, anupsell comprising a small soda may correspond to an upsell price rangeof between 2¢ and 20¢. In other embodiments, the POS terminal determinesthe upsell(s) by identifying at least one upsell in the database whichcorresponds to both (i) the compared upsell price, and (ii) at least one“purchase condition”.

A purchase condition is a condition in effect when the purchase isprocessed at the POS terminal. Some types of purchase conditions are thepurchase price, time of day, day of the week, season, the identity of aproduct included in the purchase, the cost of a product included in thepurchase, and/or past purchases made by the customer. Other types ofpurchase conditions may be employed without departing from the spiritand scope of the present invention.

The use of purchase conditions in the present invention allows upsellsto be more accurately determined, and in turn increases the likelihoodthat an upsell will appeal to a customer and be exchanged for changedue. For example, at certain times during a day, a customer may have astronger desire for certain upsells. A meal is a more appealing upsellduring dinnertime than during the mid-afternoon, and a video rental ismore appealing in the evening than in the morning. Accordingly,consideration of the time of a purchase may allow more appealing upsellsto be offered.

In embodiments that employ purchase conditions, upsell prices in theupsell database have a corresponding upsell and at least onecorresponding upsell condition to compare with the purchase condition.Furthermore, the POS terminal generates the purchase condition(s) in anyof a number of ways. For example, a clock signal can provide the timeand/or date, the purchase recorded by the POS terminal can provide theidentity of products, and a “frequent shopper card” can provide signalsindicative of the customer's identity and past purchases made by thecustomer.

Referring to FIG. 4, an upsell database 90, which is one embodiment ofthe upsell database 30 of FIG. 1a, includes upsell prices 92, upselldescriptors 94 and a plurality of upsell conditions, including the itemspurchased 96, whether a customer identifier is required 98, customerproduct preferences 100, the time of day 102 and cost 103 to thebusiness. The entries in the upsell database 90 may be uniquelyidentified by upsell codes 104.

Several types of purchase conditions, which are compared with upsellconditions, may be stored in one or more databases in the storage device22 (FIG. 1a). For example, FIG. 5 illustrates a customer database 110,which includes unique customer identifiers 112, as well ascustomer-specific information, such as name 114, address 116, telephonenumber 118 and historical product preferences 120. The POS terminal 10(FIG. 1a) may employ the customer database 110 to determine variouspurchase conditions, and offer upsells accordingly as described above. Acustomer at a POS terminal may provide a corresponding customeridentifier, and thereby provide his customer-specific information, inany of a number of ways. For example, the customer may type his customeridentifier into the POS terminal, or may “swipe” (pass) afrequent-shopper card containing a unique identification code through acard reader at the POS terminal.

Other types of purchase conditions may be derived from an inventoryprice database. Referring to FIG. 6, an inventory price database 130,which is one embodiment of the inventory price database 28 of FIG. 1a,includes products 132 and corresponding product prices 134. Theinventory price database 130 may also include unique product identifiers136, as well as the numbers of such products in stock 138. It may alsobe desirable to store the “age” (expiration date or time) 140 of certaintypes of products, thus allowing older products to be identified andoffered as upsells.

For each purchase, the above-described purchase conditions, the round-upamount and whether the upsell was selected may be stored in a databaseof offered upsells. Such a database of offered upsells could provideinformation on which upsells were accepted by customers, and under whatcircumstances the upsells were accepted. Thus, from this database, thevalue of upsells to consumers may be determined, and the upsell databasecan be adjusted accordingly. For example, if consumers rarely accept acertain upsell, the upsell may be eliminated from the database or may beoffered in exchange for much smaller amounts of change.

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of an offered upsell database 150stored in the storage device 22 (FIG. 1a). The offered upsell database150 includes upsells which were offered 152, the corresponding round-upamount 154 and which upsell, if any, was accepted 156. Other purchaseconditions may be desirable to store in the offered upsell database 150,such as the date 158 of the offered upsell, a unique customer identifier160, an expiration period 162 for redeeming the upsell, if any, and thedate 164 the upsell was accepted (redeemed), if any.

In the embodiments discussed above, the POS terminal identified a singleupsell to offer in exchange for a round-up amount. However, the POSterminal 10 (FIG. 1a) may identify more than one upsell that correspondsto an upsell price. In such an embodiment, the POS terminal 10 canprovide the customer with a selection of possible upsells. The POSterminal 10 may display all of these upsells simultaneously, or maydisplay the upsells sequentially.

In embodiments where the upsells are displayed simultaneously, thecustomer selects from among the displayed upsells. In embodiments wherethe upsells are displayed sequentially, the customer may reject (fail toselect) the first displayed upsell, and the POS terminal 10 thendisplays a second upsell. Sequentially-displayed upsells can be sortedaccording to a sorting criteria, allowing the sequence of displayedupsells to proceed in a desired manner. Thus, a first upsell that issorted before a second upsell is displayed first. If the first upsell isnot selected, the second upsell is then displayed.

The upsells may be sorted according to the profit earned on each upsell.In such an embodiment, the upsell yielding the highest profit to thebusiness is offered first. If the customer rejects the highest profitupsell, other upsells having lower profits may besubsequently-displayed. Thus, even if a customer rejects a first upsell,he may select a subsequent upsell that still provides profit to theseller.

In certain other embodiments of the present invention, the POS terminalprovides a second upsell having a higher-value to the customer if afirst upsell has been rejected. Such a higher-value upsell may be morelikely to be accepted than the first upsell. Such a sequence ofincreasingly-valuable offers may result in the customer's consistentrejection of the first upsell offer. Accordingly, in another embodiment,the POS terminal generates a random number using any of a number ofknown methods. The random number may be used to determine (i) whethersubsequent upsells are offered at all, or (ii) the relative order inwhich the upsells of different value will be offered. Thus, customersare unsure of whether a second upsell will be offered and/or what thevalue of a second upsell may be, so they will not automatically rejectthe first upsell.

FIG. 8 illustrates a method 180 in which the customer provides acounter-offer to exchange his change for a second upsell. The POSterminal then determines whether to accept this counter-offer.

As described above, the POS terminal outputs signals indicative of afirst (identified) upsell (step 182). The POS terminal generates aselection signal for indicating selection between the first upsell,change and a second upsell (counter-offer by customer). If the selectionsignal indicates selection of the first upsell (step 184), then, asdescribed above, the required payment amount is set equal to thepurchase price (step 186). However, if the selection signal indicatesselection of the second upsell (step 188) (i.e., the customercounter-offers for the second upsell), a second upsell pricecorresponding to the second upsell is determined (step 190) from theupsell database. If the calculated round-up amount corresponds to thesecond upsell price (step 192) (i.e., the customer's change issufficient for the second upsell), the required payment amount is set tobe equal to the rounded price (step 186), and the second upsell isthereby accepted.

Besides product upgrades and additional products, another type of upsellis a voucher that is redeemable for a product or a discount thereon.Vouchers can be especially valuable to a seller because they attractcustomers back to a business and possibly provide repeat sales. Acustomer is typically more likely to return to a business to use apurchased voucher (i.e. purchased with his change) than to use a freevoucher. Vouchers provide further value to the seller through thepossibility of breakage (i.e. loss and thus non-redemption of apurchased voucher).

A voucher may either be related to the round-up amount or independentthereof. For example, one type of voucher is a coupon redeemable for adiscount on a future purchase, in which the discount amount is equal tothe round-up amount of the present purchase. In contrast, another typeof voucher is a coupon redeemable for a certain product, regardless ofthe round-up amount of the present purchase.

Upon accepting the upsell, either the cashier presents a pre-printedcoupon to the customer, or the POS terminal prints one for the customer.Printed vouchers may be registered with many different types of indicia,such as redemption information, a unique identifier, the date of thepurchase or an expiration date.

In embodiments that include printing a unique identifier on the voucher,the POS terminal maintains a database for storing a plurality ofidentifiers. When a new voucher must be printed, the POS terminalgenerates a unique identifier that does not already exist in theidentifier database. This identifier is then stored in the identifierdatabase. By searching the identifier database for a voucher identifier,redemption of the voucher may be tracked and the same voucher cannot beredeemed more times than permissible.

Referring to FIG. 9, the storage device 22 stores an identifier database200, which includes unique identifiers 202 for identifying each voucher.The identifier database 200 may further include voucher face values 204,which may (or may not) equal the round-up amount exchanged for thevoucher. Stored voucher face values allow each voucher to be redeemedfor a different value, while minimizing fraud. For example, the voucherface values 204 stored in the database 200 may be retrieved uponredemption and compared with values printed on the vouchers.Discrepancies between stored and printed voucher values would indicateforgery of the printed voucher.

Yet another type of upsell is an entry in a game, such as a lottery,contest, sweepstakes or other game. In some embodiments, the prize forwinning the game depends on the round-up amount used to purchase thegame entry. For example, the prize for winning the game may beproportional to the round-up amount paid for the game entry. In suchembodiments, the prize collected upon winning the game is greater forgreater round-up amounts. In other embodiments, the probability ofwinning may be greater for greater round-up amounts. For example, a gameentry for which a customer paid $1.50 may have twice as much of a chanceof winning as a game entry for which another customer paid 75¢.

Upon receiving an input indicating selection of the game upsell inexchange for the round-up amount, the POS terminal generates a uniqueidentifier to identify the game entry. The unique identifier and theround-up amount are stored in a game database of identifiers andround-up amounts. When a winning entry is determined, the game databaseprovides the round-up amount corresponding to the entry, and therebydetermines the prize value.

The game database may be, for example, a database maintained by the POSterminal and stored in the storage device 22 (FIG. 1a). In anotherembodiment illustrated by FIG. 10, the game database resides in alottery data processing system 220 that is connected to POS terminals222 and 223 through a communication link 224. Although two POS terminalsare shown in FIG. 10 for purposes of clarity, more POS terminals may beconnected to the lottery data processing system 220.

The lottery data processing system 220 is typically a controller locatedin a store for controlling lottery ticket transactions performed at POSterminals in the store. The system 220 thereby serves to collect andstore lottery transactions (such as lottery ticket upsells) performed atthe store's POS terminals. Such centralized control of lotterytransactions allows customers at a number of POS terminals to eachreceive upsells that permit participation in a single lottery, contestor other game.

The lottery data processing system 220 comprises a microprocessor 226for controlling other components described below. The microprocessor 226communicates with each of a cryptographic processor 228 forauthenticating lottery transactions and a random number generator 230for generating “quick-pick” lottery numbers for each game entry. Astorage device 232 also communicates with the microprocessor 226, andstores (i) the above-described game database 234 of identifiers andround-up amounts; (ii) a POS terminal controller database 236 formaintaining information on POS terminals connected to the lottery dataprocessing system 220, such as a unique identifier for each terminal andthe specific lottery transactions of each terminal; and (iii) a winninglottery ticket number database 238 for storing winning numbers, andthereby indicating winning entries.

In each of the embodiments of the present invention described above, thecustomer selects and receives an upsell. However, as described below,the customer may prefer to transfer (“donate”) his upsell to a secondcustomer, with the upsell being received by the second customer at hisnext visit to a POS terminal. The second customer may visit the POSterminal, for example, to pay for products, as described above, orspecifically to collect the donated upsell.

FIG. 11 depicts a customer database 260 which is another embodiment ofthe customer database 110 (FIG. 5) stored in the storage device 22. Thecustomer database 260 includes unique customer identifiers 262, as wellas customer-specific information described above, such as name 264,address 266, telephone number 268 and historical product preferences270. In addition, the customer database 260 includes linked customeridentifiers 272 that identify others (if any) to which the customer'supsells are donated.

For example, using the functionality of the customer database 260, acustomer may specify that an acquaintance receives the customer-earnedupsell. The customer database 260 also includes upsells due 274 to thecustomer, such as upsells previously earned or transferred to him byanother, as well as upsell expiration dates 275 indicating the lastdates for receiving the upsells due.

Using the exemplary data shown in the database 260 of FIG. 11, a firstcustomer identifier 276 of the record 277 identifies a customer name“Bill Smith” and further identifies a corresponding linked customerthrough identifier 278 in field 272. This linked customer identifier 278corresponds to the customer identifier 280 identifying the customer“Jill Smith”. Accordingly, Jill Smith has been identified and receivesupsells donated by Bill Smith.

An upsell due 282 is associated with customer identifier 280 of record281 (Jill Smith). The upsell due 282 is provided based on a purchase byBill Smith, and is collected by Jill Smith during a visit to a POSterminal. The upsell identifier “A” in field 274 may comprise, forexample, a small soda. Thus, the use of “linked customers” thus allowscustomers to transfer earned upsells, or even purchased products,thereby increasing both customer satisfaction and customer retention.

A customer may prefer to randomly donate his upsell to one (or more) ofa number of customers, such as a number of family members or apredetermined list of needy families, rather than to any one customer inparticular. In such an embodiment, the donating customer may firstdesignate an associated group of linked customer identifiers 272.Alternatively, the customer may let the store select a group ofcustomers. A random one (or more) of this group is selected by the POSterminal as the recipient of the upsell.

Referring now to FIGS. 12a and 12 b, a process 300 is shown wherebyautomated upsell processing is performed for a customer having afrequent shopper card. A customer who wishes to register for a frequentshopper card which stores his preferences provides personal information(step 302), such as his name, address and/or telephone number, to a POSoperator or other person who responsible for data entry. This personalinformation is then stored (step 304) in a record of the customerdatabase. Such records are exemplified in FIG. 11 by the records 276 and281 of the customer database 260.

The customer selects (step 306) if he would like to normally receive anupsell, rather than change. If he so selects, possible choices ofupsells are displayed (step 308) to the customer. The customer chooseswhich of the displayed upsells he prefers to normally receive (step310), and the chosen upsell is stored (step 312) in the historicalpreferences field 270 of his customer record.

The customer may also choose (step 314) if he would like to donate hisupsells to a “linked” customer having a frequent shopper card. If so,the customer provides information (step 316) identifying the linkedcustomer, such as the name, address and/or account number of the linkedcustomer. The customer may select multiple other linked customers toreceive donated upsells. The information is verified (step 318) toassure that the second customer may be properly identified from theinformation provided, and the information is stored in the customerdatabase record. As necessary, additional customer records are createdfor second and subsequent customer(s).

Possible upsells to donate to the second customer are displayed (step320) to the customer. The customer chooses which of the displayedupsells he prefers to normally transfer (step 322), and the chosenupsell is stored (step 324) in the customer record. Finally, thecustomer is issued his frequent shopper card (step 326) through whichthe POS terminal may identify his customer record.

Referring to FIG. 13, a method 340 for applying previously-selectedcustomer preferences to a current visit to a POS terminal begins with adetermination (step 342) of whether a frequent shopper card is beingused. Such a determination may be made, for example, by receiving asignal from a card reader, thereby indicating that a card has been“swiped” through the card reader. If a frequent shopper card is notbeing used, an upsell is determined (step 344) as previously described,and an upsell (if selected) is provided to the customer (step 346) inexchange for his change.

If a frequent shopper card is being used, the customer database issearched to determine (step 348) if the customer has a preferred upsell.If he does, the preferred upsell is selected (step 350). The customerdatabase is also searched to determine (step 352) if the customer hasestablished a second customer to receive donated upsells. If so, anidentifier for the selected upsell is stored (step 354) in an account ofthe second customer, thereby indicating that the second customer mayreceive the selected upsell. In other embodiments, the second customermay receive donated products that are not upsells, such as productsbought for “list” price.

Referring now to FIG. 14, a method 370 illustrates how the secondcustomer may receive the donated upsell. While at the POS terminal, thesecond customer swipes his frequent shopper card through a card reader(step 372), thereby identifying a customer record of the customerdatabase providing information on his preferences and any upsellsdonated to him. The customer record is searched to determine (step 374)if an upsell has been donated to the second customer. If not, the secondcustomer completes his transaction (step 376) at the POS terminal asdescribed above. If an upsell has been donated, the second customer isinformed and the upsell is provided (step 378), thereby clearing thedonated upsell from the record of the second customer. Atransaction-specific upsell, dependent on the change of the secondcustomer, can be offered in addition to the donated upsell.

As described above, an upsell may have a corresponding expiration dateafter which the upsell may not be redeemed. For example, a donatedupsell may be transferred only if the second customer collects theupsell through the above-described method 370 (FIG. 14) before apredetermined date. An expiration date for donated upsells is especiallyadvantageous to a store in that it can increase customer retention byproviding an incentive to visit the store having the POS terminalsbefore the upsell expires. Breakage also provides the store with profit.

In many of the embodiments presented herein, the methods and apparatusof the present invention have been described in detail with respect to asingle device functioning as a POS terminal, such as a cash register.However, as also described above, the functionality of the presentinvention may be implemented by a plurality of devices sharing thedescribed functionality, such as the multi-unit system illustrated inFIG. 1b.

Accordingly, FIG. 15 illustrates a method 390 for determining an upsellat a POS terminal in accordance with the embodiment of FIG. 1b. Themethod 390 may be performed, for example, by a combination of a cashregister and a processing system operated by an electronic marketingservice or credit card clearing house. The cash register generates apurchase price and transmits the purchase price to the processing system(step 392).

The processing system generates a rounded price (step 394), andgenerates a round-up amount in dependence thereupon (step 396). Asdescribed above, the processing system identifies an upsell to offer tothe customer (step 398). If the customer selects the upsell (step 400),then the required payment amount of the cash register is set, manuallyor automatically through a connection with the processing system to therounded price (step 402).

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that many differentsystems may be provided wherein the functionality of the presentinvention is shared amongst multiple hardware and/or software devices.

Although the present invention has been described with respect to apreferred embodiment thereof, those skilled in the art will understandthat various substitutions may be made to those embodiments describedherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. For example, many other types of upsells that are notdiscussed in detail herein are contemplated by the present invention.One such upsell may comprise “points”, such as those redeemable forstore credit, telephone calls, Internet access or pay television events.Furthermore, many types of POS terminals, besides those requiringcashiers, are contemplated by the present invention.

We claim:
 1. A computer implemented method comprising: generating apurchase price of a purchase; generating a rounded price; calculating around-up amount, the round-up amount being a difference between thepurchase price and the rounded price; determining an upsell independence on the round-up amount; and outputting a signal indicative ofthe upsell.
 2. The method of claim 1, in which generating the roundedprice comprises: rounding up the purchase price to a whole number. 3.The method of claim 1, in which generating the rounded price comprises:calculating a lowest whole number that is greater than the purchaseprice.
 4. The method of claim 3, in which generating the rounded pricecomprises: determining a lowest whole number that is a multiple of five.5. The method of claim 3, in which generating the rounded pricecomprises: determining a lowest whole number that is a multiple of one.6. The method of claim 1, in which determining an upsell comprises:searching a database of a plurality of upsells, each of the plurality ofupsells having a corresponding range of prices; and selecting, from theplurality of upsells, at least one upsell having a corresponding rangeof prices that includes the round-up amount.
 7. The method of claim 6,in which each of the ranges of prices is based on a cost of thecorresponding upsell, and a retail price of the corresponding upsell. 8.The method of claim 1, in which determining the upsell comprises:selecting an upsell that is profitably sold for the round-up amount. 9.The method of claim 1, in which determining the upsell comprises:selecting an upsell that may be sold at a price lower than retail pricein exchange for the round-up amount.
 10. The method of claim 1, in whichoutputting the signal indicative of the upsell comprises: displayingtext.
 11. The method of claim 1, in which outputting the signalindicative of the upsell comprises: displaying text explain that theidentified upsell may be purchased for the round-up mount.
 12. Themethod of claim 1, in which outputting the signal indicative of theupsell comprises: displaying text that identifies the upsell and atleast one of the round-up amount and the rounded price.
 13. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: receiving a selection signal thatindicates whether the upsell is to be sold.
 14. The method of claim 1,in which determining the upsell comprises: determining a plurality ofupsells; and in which outputting the signal comprises: outputting asignal indicative of the plurality of upsells.
 15. The method of claim14, further comprising: generating a selection signal for indicatingselection of at least one of the plurality of upsells.
 16. A computerimplemented method comprising: generating a purchase price of apurchase; generating a rounded price; calculating a round-up amount, theround-up amount being a difference between the purchase price and therounded price; determining an upsell in dependence on the round-upamount; and offering to exchange the round-up amount for the upsell. 17.The method of claim 16, further comprising: receiving an acceptance inresponse to the offering.
 18. The method of claim 16, in whichgenerating the rounded price comprises: rounding up the purchase priceto a whole number.
 19. The method of claim 16, in which generating therounded price comprises: calculating a lowest whole number that isgreater than the purchase price.
 20. The method of claim 19, in whichgenerating the rounded price comprises: determining a lowest wholenumber that is a multiple of five.
 21. The method of claim 19, in whichgenerating the rounded price comprises: determining a lowest wholenumber that is a multiple of one.
 22. The method of claim 16, in whichdetermining an upsell comprises: searching a database of a plurality ofupsells, each of the plurality of upsells having a corresponding rangeof prices; and selecting, from the plurality of upsells, at least oneupsell having a corresponding range of prices that includes the round-upamount.
 23. The method of claim 16, in which outputting the signalindicative of the upsell comprises: displaying text.
 24. The method ofclaim 16, in which outputting the signal indicative of the upsellcomprises: displaying text explain that the identified upsell may bepurchased for the round-up amount.
 25. The method of claim 16, in whichoutputting the signal indicative of the upsell comprises: displayingtext that identifies the upsell and at least one of the round-up amountand the rounded price.
 26. The method of claim 16, further comprising:receiving a selection signal that indicates whether the upsell is to besold.
 27. The method of claim 16, in which determining the upsellcomprises: determining a plurality of upsells; and in which outputtingthe signal comprises outputting a signal indicative of the plurality ofupsells.
 28. The method of claim further comprising: generating aselection signal for indicating selection of at least one of theplurality of upsells.
 29. A computer implemented method comprising:generating a purchase price of a purchase; generating a plurality ofrounded prices; calculating a respective round-up amount for eachrounded price, each round-up amount being a difference between thepurchase price and a rounded price; determining a respective upsell independence on each round-up amount; and outputting a signal indicativeof each upsell.
 30. A computer implemented method comprising: generatinga purchase price of a purchase; determining an upsell in dependence onthe purchase price, in which determining an upsell comprises searching adatabase of a plurality of upsells, each of the plurality of upsellshaving a corresponding price range; determining an upsell price independence on the purchase price; and offering to exchange the upsellfor the upsell price.
 31. A computer implemented method comprising:generating a purchase price of a purchase; determining an upsell independence on the purchase price; determining an upsell price independence on the purchase price; and offering to exchange the upsellfor the upsell price; in which determining an upsell comprises:determining a round-up amount based on the purchase price; searching adatabase of a plurality of upsells, each of the plurality of upsellshaving a corresponding price range; and selecting, from the plurality ofupsells, at least one upsell having a corresponding price range thatincludes the round-up amount.
 32. The method of claim 31, in whichdetermining the upsell price comprises: setting the upsell price equalto the round-up amount.
 33. A computer implemented method comprising:generating a purchase price of a purchase; determining an upsell independence on the purchase price, in which determining an upsellcomprises selecting an upsell that is profitably sold for change due;determining an upsell price in dependence on the purchase price; andoffering to exchange the upsell for the upsell price.
 34. A computerimplemented method comprising: generating a purchase price of apurchase; determining an upsell in dependence on the purchase price, inwhich determining the upsell comprises selecting an upsell that may besold at a price lower than retail price in exchange for change due;determining an upsell price in dependence on the purchase price; andoffering to exchange the upsell for the upsell price.
 35. A computerimplemented method comprising: generating a purchase price of apurchase; determining an upsell in dependence on the purchase price;determining an upsell price in dependence on the purchase price; andoffering to exchange the upsell for the upsell price; in whichdetermining an upsell comprises: selecting a product that has: a costnot greater than an amount of change due, and a retail price not lessthan the amount of change due.
 36. A computer implemented methodcomprising: generating a purchase price of a purchase; determining anupsell in dependence on the purchase price; determining an upsell pricein dependence on the purchase price; and offering to exchange the upsellfor the upsell price; in which determining an upsell comprises:selecting an upgrade from a first product to a second product, the firstproduct having a first cost and a first retail price, and the secondproduct having a second cost and a second retail price, in which adifference between the first cost and the second cost is not greaterthan an amount of change due, and a difference between the first retailprice and the second retail price is not less than the amount of changedue.